Practice of Social Research

by Babbie, Earl R.

• ISBN13: 9780534187446
• ISBN10: 0534187447
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-08-16
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

This thorough revision of Babbie's standard-setting book for the course offers students a comprehensive, straightforward introduction to the field of research methods as practiced by sociologists and other social scientists. Emphasizing the importance of the research process, the book shows students how social scientists design research studies, introduces the variety of observation modes used by sociologists, and covers the "how-tos" and "whys" of social research methods. Students learn how to conduct various types of research, when it is appropriate to use each method, and how to analyze qualitative and quantitative data using the Elaboration Model. The 10th edition provides students with the necessary tools for understanding social research methods and for applying these concepts both inside and outside the classroom--as researchers and as consumers of research. Retaining the authoritative coverage of the research process that has made the book a best-seller, the new edition is more student-friendly than ever. The new edition features a completely new chapter on reading and writing social research, a streamlined organization, a new running glossary, and a new Research Writing and Chapter Tutorial CD-ROM that not only helps students every step of the way in writing research papers, but also links to chapter by chapter online tutorials that will help them master the concepts and techniques of the course.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xvi
Holographic Overview	p. 1
An Introduction to Inquiry	p. 14
Human Inquiry and Science	p. 16
Introduction	p. 17
Looking for Reality	p. 18
The Foundations of Social Science	p. 24
Some Dialectics of Social Science	p. 33
The Ethics of Social Research	p. 37
Main Points	p. 38
Key Terms	p. 39
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 39
Additional Readings	p. 40
Sociology Web Site	p. 40
Infotrac College Edition	p. 40
Paradigms, Theory, and Social Research	p. 41
Introduction	p. 42
Some Social Science Paradigms	p. 42
Elements of Social Theory	p. 51
Two Logical Systems Revisited	p. 53
Deductive Theory Construction	p. 60
Inductive Theory Construction	p. 63
The Links Between Theory and Research	p. 64
Main Points	p. 65
Key Terms	p. 66
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 66
Additional Readings	p. 66
Sociology Web Site	p. 67
Infotrac College Edition	p. 67
The Idea of Causation in Social Research	p. 68
Introduction	p. 69
Determinism and Social Science	p. 69
Causation in Idiographic and Nomothetic Models of Explanation	p. 72
Criteria for Causality	p. 75
Necessary and Sufficient Causes	p. 78
Errors in Reasoning About Causation	p. 81
Linking Measurement and Association	p. 83
Main Points	p. 85
Key Terms	p. 86
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 86
Additional Readings	p. 87
Sociology Web Site	p. 87
Infotrac College Edition	p. 87
The Structure of Inquiry	p. 88
Research Design	p. 90
Introduction	p. 91
Three Purposes of Research	p. 91
Units of Analysis	p. 94
The Time Dimension	p. 101
How To Design a Research Project	p. 107
The Research Proposal	p. 113
Main Points	p. 114
Key Terms	p. 115
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 115
Additional Readings	p. 116
Answers to Review Questions and Exercises, Item 2	p. 117
Sociology Web Site	p. 117
Infotrac College Edition	p. 117
Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement	p. 118
Introduction	p. 119
Measuring Anything That Exists	p. 119
Conceptualization	p. 122
Definitions in Descriptive and Explanatory Studies	p. 129
Operationalization Choices	p. 132
Criteria of Measurement Quality	p. 140
Main Points	p. 145
Key Terms	p. 146
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 146
Additional Readings	p. 147
Sociology Web Site	p. 147
Infotrac College Edition	p. 147
Indexes, Scales, and Typologies	p. 148
Introduction	p. 149
Indexes versus Scales	p. 149
Index Construction	p. 152
Scale Construction	p. 165
Typologies	p. 171
Main Points	p. 173
Key Terms	p. 173
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 173
Additional Readings	p. 174
Sociology Web Site	p. 174
Infotrac College Edition	p. 174
The Logic of Sampling	p. 175
Introduction	p. 176
A Brief History of Sampling	p. 177
Nonprobability Sampling	p. 178
The Theory and Logic of Probability sampling	p. 182
Populations and Sampling Frames	p. 194
Types of Sampling Designs	p. 197
Multistage Cluster Sampling	p. 204
Probability Sampling in Review	p. 211
Main Points	p. 212
Key Terms	p. 213
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 213
Additional Readings	p. 213
Sociology Web Site	p. 213
Infortrac College Edition	p. 213
Modes of Observation	p. 214
Experiments	p. 216
Introduction	p. 217
Topics Appropriate to Experiments	p. 217
The Classical Experiment	p. 217
Selecting Subjects	p. 221
Variations on Experimental Design	p. 224
An Illustration of Experimentation	p. 230
"Natural" Experiments	p. 232
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Experimental Method	p. 234
Main Points	p. 235
Key Terms	p. 235
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 235
Additional Readings	p. 236
Sociology Web Site	p. 236
Infotrac College Edition	p. 236
Survey Research	p. 237
Introduction	p. 238
Topics Appropriate for Survey Research	p. 238
Guidelines for Asking Questions	p. 239
Questionnaire Construction	p. 245
Self-Administered Questionnaires	p. 253
Interview Surveys	p. 258
Telephone Surveys	p. 262
New Technologies and Survey Research	p. 265
Comparison of the Different Survey Methods	p. 267
Strengths and Weaknesses of Survey Research	p. 268
Secondary Analysis	p. 269
Main Points	p. 270
Key Terms	p. 271
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 271
Additional Readings	p. 272
Sociology Web Site	p. 273
Infotrac College Edition	p. 273
Qualitative Field Research	p. 274
Introduction	p. 275
Topics Appropriate to Field Research	p. 275
Special Considerations in Qualitative Field Research	p. 277
Some Qualitative Field Research Paradigms	p. 281
Conducting Qualitative Field Research	p. 290
Strengths and Weaknesses of Qualitative Field Research	p. 298
Research Ethics in Qualitative Field Research	p. 300
Main Points	p. 300
Key Terms	p. 301
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 301
Additional Readings	p. 301
Sociology Web Site	p. 302
Infotrac College Edition	p. 302
Unobtrusive Measures	p. 303
Introduction	p. 304
Content Analysis	p. 304
Analyzing Existing Statistics	p. 315
Historical/Comparative Analysis	p. 322
Main Points	p. 328
Key Terms	p. 329
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 329
Additional Readings	p. 329
Sociology Web Site	p. 330
Infotrac College Edition	p. 330
Evaluation Research	p. 331
Introduction	p. 332
Topics Appropriate to Evaluation Research	p. 333
Formulating the Problem: Issues of Measurement	p. 334
Types of Evaluation Research Designs	p. 338
The Social Context	p. 344
Social Indicators Research	p. 351
Main Points	p. 354
Key Terms	p. 354
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 354
Additional Readings	p. 354
Sociology Web Site	p. 355
Infotrac College Edition	p. 355
Analysis of Data	p. 356
Qualitative Data Analysis	p. 358
Introduction	p. 359
Linking Theory and Analysis	p. 359
Qualitative Data Processing	p. 364
Computer Programs for Qualitative Data	p. 370
Main Points	p. 380
Key Terms	p. 381
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 381
Additional Readings	p. 382
Sociology Web Site	p. 382
Infotrac College Edition	p. 382
Quantifying Data	p. 383
Introduction	p. 384
Computers in Social Research	p. 384
Coding	p. 387
Coding and Data Entry Options	p. 390
Data Cleaning	p. 392
Main Points	p. 393
Key Terms	p. 394
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 394
Additional Readings	p. 394
Sociology Web Site	p. 395
Infotrac College Edition	p. 395
Elementary Quantitative Analyses	p. 396
Introduction	p. 397
Univariate Analysis	p. 397
Subgroup Comparisons	p. 403
Bivariate Analysis	p. 406
Introduction to Multivariate Analysis	p. 412
Main Points	p. 414
Key Words	p. 414
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 414
Additional Readings	p. 415
Sociology web Site	p. 415
Infotrac College Edition	p. 415
The Elaboration Model	p. 416
Introduction	p. 417
The Origins of the Elaboration Model	p. 417
The Elaboration Paradigm	p. 421
Elaboration and Ex Post Facto Hypothesizing	p. 430
Main Points	p. 432
Key Terms	p. 432
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 432
Additional Readings	p. 433
Sociology Web Site	p. 433
Infotrac College Edition	p. 433
Social Statistics	p. 434
Introduction	p. 435
The Danger of Success in Math	p. 435
Descriptive Statistics	p. 436
Other Multivariate Techniques	p. 446
Inferential Statistics	p. 452
Main Points	p. 463
Key Terms	p. 464
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 464
Additional Readings	p. 464
Sociology Web Site	p. 464
Infotrac College Edition	p. 465
The Social Context of Research	p. 466
The Ethics and Politics of Social Research	p. 468
Introduction	p. 469
Ethical Issues in Social Research	p. 470
Two Ethical Controversies	p. 479
The Politics of Social Research	p. 481
Main Points	p. 487
Key Terms	p. 487
Review Questions and Exercises	p. 487
Additional Readings	p. 488
Sociology Web Site	p. 489
Infotrac College Edition	p. 489
The Uses of Social Research	p. 490
Introduction	p. 491
Theory--Data Collection--Analysis	p. 491
Everyday Uses of Social Research Skills	p. 492
A Consumer's Guide to Social Research	p. 493
Conclusion	p. 498
Sociology Web Site	p. 498
Infotrac College Edition	p. 498
Appendixes	p. 1
Using the Library	p. 2
Social Research in Cyberspace	p. 8
The Research Report	p. 16
GSS Household Enumeration Questionnaire	p. 23
Random Numbers	p. 33
Distribution of Chi Square	p. 35
Normal Curve Areas	p. 37
Estimated Sampling Error	p. 38
A Learner's Guide to SPSS 8.0	p. 40
Twenty Questions a Journalist Should Ask about Poll Results	p. 75
Bibliography	p. 1
Glossary	p. 1
Index	p. 1
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